


Red Rover

by Aurelious_auria



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Crucible, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Guardians - Freeform, Other, Reader is a Redjack, Red Legion, Red War, Slow Burn, Survival, We Are All Thirsty For Shaxx, Wilderness Survival, let's be real here, more tags added later, redjacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 14:55:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16997133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurelious_auria/pseuds/Aurelious_auria
Summary: Your City is in ashes, Guardian. Everything you thought you owned is lost, or worse. You're as powerless as the people you've sworn to protect... but with him by your side, you don't need your Light. You have each other, and that's enough. You can make it through this... so long as you never lose hope.Red Rover, Red Rover,What will you doWhen it's all over?





	Red Rover

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all, here's an idea I had rattling around in my head that I wanted to share! I really love Lord Shaxx, so it would be a disservice to myself not to write _something_ for him. This is the result of me imagining what he got up to during the Red War.
> 
> Since this work is going to lean towards being more dramatic and visceral than comedic, it will have longer chapters and denser descriptions. I even wrote a poem to accompany it... a verse will be added to the story summary with each new chapter! I hope you enjoy this "Pilot" of sorts, while I mosey on back to [Now We're Roommates](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16371383/chapters/38313992). To be continued!

The Midtown Crucible map looks beautiful today. The sun casts its light unbidden over the reservoir, dazzling the water from each radiant blink it bestows, and rebounds, scattering brilliance far and wide. The sky above breathes, open and free, lacking the presence of any cloud it fills its lungs with only blue, beautiful blue. The air sits lightly, an agreeable humidity over your armor, the temperature ferrying about on small late-summer breezes. Behind the scenes, a subtle shift in seasons takes place, and you stand in appreciation of it; living in the moment.

 

You can hardly keep yourself from flopping and rolling around in the grass like a horse. And why resist?

 

Weightless, you tumble down to the Earth, and give into the simple joy of tiny green things rising up around you to flutter, feather-light, against armor you can’t feel it through. You entertain a daydream of their feeling against your bare skin as recompense.

 

Assignments like these, they’re wonderful, such a relief. As one of the Crucible Redjack Guardians, spending quality time at home on terra firma is a rare luxury. Among all of your duties-- securing stations, clearing invaders, reinforcing holds, overseeing games, and ever onwards-- the truth is, Earth has little need of your help. After all, the City and its outlying areas are well off under the watchful eye of the Vanguard, and your employer, Lord Shaxx.

 

Speaking of which… 

 

“Everything checks out here, all set for the next match.” You signal him over your comms, pinching a blade of grass between your fingers and the dial when you press it. A moment passes, no response. You’re about to open up the channel again, when a voice sounds from behind you.

 

“What’s this? The Red Rover, taking an afternoon nap?”

 

At the call of your title, your head tilts backward into its verdant headrest, spotting the Crucible Handler approaching from the sidewalk. Wiseass.

 

“Just trying to catch a tan while I’m still planetside, chief. Forgot my beach towel, though.”

 

He chuckles, striding across the lawn to join you, and looms over your head until the sun smears over his armor as its rays catch in the scuffs and divots. “There’s a perfectly good one hanging around your shoulders, Hunter, why not make use of it?” He suggests, his tone playful, and leans further into your field of view. You can see his hands fisted on his hips, and his horned helmet distantly; somewhere in the lower atmosphere. Traveler above, this man is tall.

 

“You think you bother me, tough guy? I’m lying in _ grass _ right now, the finest carpet Mother Nature ever invented.” You grab a handful of the stuff and hold it up to your helmet, greasing your gauntlets with pliable green fibers. “Nothing can bother me now. Nothing.”

 

It’s practically an invitation to lay down with you, and you know he won’t be able to resist for long. Of free time he has pathetically little, but zest for life? Lord Shaxx has an endless supply. Sure enough, he lowers himself down into the turf by your side, stretching his legs out over the ground while supporting his upper body on two outstretched arms. The two of you remain there for a spare moment, revelling in the peacefulness of this place, its tranquility, despite the litter of bullet casings you could almost feel beneath you. What an unusual location to place a battle ground, here, where thoughts of the enemies of humanity feel as far away as the planets and stars.

 

“Seems kind of counterproductive.” You speak up, randomly.

 

“What does?”

 

“This location. Fighting matches in the City, the safest place in the Solar System.” You bullet back, not feeling as confident in your deduction, so much as wondering at his reasoning. If there's anything you've learned over the years, it's that Shaxx always finds a good reason to do something, even if that something seems more like an outlet for his jockish fantasizing and uncontained enthusiasm than practical training methods. He finds a way to make it work, before, or after.

 

“Hah! You're joking! You're joking, right?” He trumpets, forgetting that you're not intimately aware of every decision he makes and its reasoning, only by working alongside him. Shaxx clears his throat.

 

“This City may be our stronghold, but walls won't keep threats out for forever, I’ve been alive far too long to be uncertain of that. We must be ready for whatever wretched creatures that come knocking on our door next, Rover. We must be.”

 

**That was two days ago.**

 

\---

 

The City is burning.

Your Light is gone.

Your leader,

Lord Shaxx, 

Is unconscious, slung over your shoulders, bleeding

And bleeding,

And bleeding.

 

Twenty five pairs of frightened eyes stare at you, waiting for direction, hoping, silently demanding.

 

_ Red Rover, Red Rover, _

_ What will you do _

_ When it's all over? _

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know if you liked it, and/or want to see more! If I don't know, then I don't post, and end up keeping all this tasty stuff to myself. I try to answer every comment I get, but I might miss some! Regardless, my endless love to all of you who have taken time out of your days to read this story, and even more to those who've enjoyed it.
> 
> Find me on tumblr at [Aurelious-auria!](http://aurelious-auria.tumblr.com/)  
> Keep updated on this fic and posts related to it through [this tag.](http://aurelious-auria.tumblr.com/tagged/RR-the-fic)  
> I have more reader inserts to share with the community, so keep your eyes peeled for those as well. Peace and Blessings! ✌️


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